Susan Collins: “the port security legislation we are considering requires that radiation detection equipment be installed in the busiest…”

“the port security legislation we are considering requires that radiation detection equipment be installed in the busiest 22 ports of entry by the end of next year. That would result in 98 percent of all cargo coming into this country being screened for radiation or radiological devices. The Senator's amendment raises the question of, What about those smaller ports? Doesn't this invite, for example, terrorists, knowing they will be screened at the 22 largest ports, to instead divert dangerous cargo to a small port? The Department of Homeland Security wants to make sure it has flexibility to do, perhaps, handheld devices for screening rather than the expensive, large radiation portal monitors that are at big ports, such as Seattle. I would pose a question, through the Chair, to the Senator from Florida, whether there is anything in his amendment that speaks to the type of equipment that must be installed, because obviously, if you have a very small port that only gets a couple of cargo ships per year, it may not make sense to invest in radiation portal monitors, but it may make sense to, instead, assume that the Customs and Border Patrol agents are equipped with handheld screening devices, which still screen. So I would ask, through the Chair, my colleague from Florida whether his amendment, as I read it, gives flexibility to the Department as to the types of equipment, in keeping with the fact there are different needs and different volumes?…”